Caulker could make Dundee debut against Kilmarnock

Steven Caulker was introduced to the Dundee fans during Saturday’s Scottish Cup defeat by Motherwell

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Dundee’s recent signing Steven Caulker could make his debut against Kilmarnock on Tuesday night.

The England-capped defender has not played since September and left Queens Park Rangers by mutual consent.

Josh Meekings is available again but may not be risked, while Marcus Haber and Matt Henvey are missing.

Kilmarnock are once again without midfielder Alan Power, who has a leg injury.

MATCH STATS

Six of the past eight Scottish Premiership meetings between Kilmarnock and Dundee have ended in a draw.

Dundee have lost just one of their six visits to Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership, scoring 11 goals during this period and conceding just five.

However, Killie have lost just one of their previous eight league matches, including a 1-0 home victory over league leaders Celtic in their last Premiership game.

The Dee have won back-to-back away league matches for the first time since May 2017 – the last time the Dee won three consecutive top-flight matches on the road came back in May 1999.

PRE-MATCH VIEWS

Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke: “The two [previous league] games [against Dundee] are in the past, I will be able to use those games hopefully to come up with a solution to beat Aberdeen but before then is four very important league games.

“It is a chance to get further away from the bottom, that’s the way I look at it, not at the top six.

“It is getting the distance between 12th and 11th, and getting as far away from them as possible as quickly as we can.

“You have to look behind. Dundee will be looking at the game as an opportunity to close the gap on us so we have to be on our guard and approach the games the way we have approached all the games recently, take the good form into those games and keep picking up points.

“This is a very important game for the club. Three points would be a massive boost to our chances of staying in the Premiership and that’s what we have to focus on.”

Dundee manager Neil McCann: “He’s feeling right. I’ll have a conversation with Steven, it has to be on his terms because he has missed so much time but he has looked really good.

“It probably came a bit soon for him at the weekend but he looks great after a couple of extra days training.

“He is closer than he was on Saturday [to playing].

“I’ve always said, and I make no apologies for it, that I want to get into the top six.

“When you lose to Ross County, who are rooted to the bottom of the table, it’s not good enough. So we go into the game with Kilmarnock looking to claw points back on them.

“We have to be mindful of what’s underneath us but we are more than good enough to go and beat them.”